


The Long Way Home

by KageYuuki, Kimiwriter



Series: Until the Road Ends [3]
Category: Mach GoGoGo | Speed Racer, Speed Racer: The Next Generation (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, F/M, M/M, Mix of English and Japanese Names
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:41:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29788656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KageYuuki/pseuds/KageYuuki, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimiwriter/pseuds/Kimiwriter
Summary: Nearly twenty years after Gou and Michi Mifune's disappearance, Speed and his friends, Conor and Lucy, are preparing to graduate from the Mifune Academy and join X's professional racing team. A chance encounter from Speed's past leads them to discover the reason his parents left him and his brother all those years ago.
Relationships: Conor/Original Character, Lucy/Speed Racer Jr, Mifune Gou | Speed Racer/Shimura Michi | Trixie, Sabu | Sparky/Original Character
Series: Until the Road Ends [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143188
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is our version of the events of Speed Racer Next Generation. A lot of elements have been altered but we've kept a lot of references for fans of the shows.

Reports were deadly; nearly as deadly as a bullet through the temple or a knife across the throat. A missing page or something improperly filed or unearthing just the right one when an advantage was needed, all could spell the difference between life and death.

  
Dawn preferred paper reports. The tactile feeling of the pages, the scratch of her fountain pen, the way the ink bled on the page, the rustling as she slowly flipped through the reports. The guard before her shifted but did not dare speak.

  
Paper was hack-proof; an experience she learned soon after usurping her position. Of course, it could not be rescued if set on fire or someone’s carelessness spilled water over it but that was the risk she chose over digital records.

  
Her office door opened and a man walked in. He glanced at the guard and then strode along the edge of the room, admiring the collected artwork and artifacts that decorated the shelves. “Seems a bit reckless, not being able to access your files from anywhere you are whenever you need them.”

  
Dawn stood, resting the tips of her fingers on her desk. “Director Gabriel.” Her eyes darted to the guard. “That will be all.”

  
The soldier saluted her, turned, and saluted the director before hurrying from the room.

  
Sitting, Dawn signed the bottom of the report, letting the surface of her desk scan the necessary pages and send them to the relevant parties before filing the papers in her desk. “I didn’t realize you would be visiting today, Gabriel.” She smiled at him as she locked the desk, using her nail to flip the hidden arming device. Anyone but her who tried to open it would become a permanent addition to her walls. She’d shot the man who’d designed the device for her, just to be sure of its security.

  
Gabriel returned her smile with a nod of his head and a glance around the office. They needed to be careful.

  
Folding her hands on her desk, Dawn shifted to be sure the knife up her sleeve was ready and waiting. She doubted she would ever need it but he was known to bide his time if necessary. “What sort of business brings you down to my little patch of hell, sir?”

  
“The Network has attacked our supply lines in Ruwe.”

  
“Yes, I heard. Lieutenant Cirice requested I send reinforcements.”

  
Gabriel nodded. Continuing around the room, he moved closer to her desk. Up close, he was handsome in a generic way. No striking features though he’d been trained to charm any man or woman he encountered. “Make sure they’re well protected.” Standing beside her, he finally allowed himself to fully look at her. “What is the news on the commander?”

  
Dawn’s fingers twitched at the name. “Still no word. The captain investigates every lead but so far to no avail.”

  
“How would you and your captain feel about forcing his hand?”

  
“You have some new information?”

  
“New? No. But we still know the commander will do anything to protect his family. If we return to our initial plan, it should be enough to draw him out. At the very least it will distract him from Ruwe.”

  
“But Gou and Michi haven’t been seen in years. Kenichi has likely hidden them away on one of his bases.”

  
“They’re not the only Mifune that we know of.”

  
“Their sons? I thought we decided they were not worth using with their limited knowledge of their parents.”

  
“I’m not suggesting an intelligence extraction.”

  
“Bait?”

  
“It would need to be flashy and public; enough to draw their attention and believe there is a threat; enough to prompt Gou to react or for the commander to show himself. And it needs to be done quickly. I don't want them interfering with the next phase of the plan.”

  
“I can manage that.”

  
“Even one of the Mifune will do.” Gabriel placed his hand on her back and leaned forward. “Are you free tonight?”

  
“I have a previous engagement.”

  
He made a face that wrinkled his brow. “Which one?”

  
Dawn smiled by way of an answer.

  
“They’re both too old for you.”

  
“You’ve never been concerned with that before.” Turning, she placed a gentle kiss on his jaw. “I will draw out the Mifune’s. We can take a weekend to celebrate afterward.”

  
Gabriel nodded. “Until then.” He lingered a moment longer, his thumb brushing over the bumps of her spine before he straightened and left the office.

  
Dawn sighed. Pushing aside the rest of the reports waiting for her signature, she pressed a button to raise the thin glass that acted as a computer screen. A few keystrokes later and she was reading everything she needed to know about the two Mifune boys. The intel read like a tragedy. Left behind when their parents disappeared, the eldest had been placed with a family friend while the youngest grew up in the foster system; neither knowing of the other’s existence until they both began attending the Mifune Academy. Dawn scanned both of the files before delving further into the youngest’s. Untreated post-traumatic stress, anxiety, trust issues, and codependency; he was a prime target.

  
She pressed another button on her desk. A second later, a voice answered through a speaker.

  
“Yes, ma’am?”

  
“Put a team together. At least one member needs to know how to race. You have a day.”

  
“Right away, ma’am.”

  
Dawn released the button and began plotting the assignment.


	2. Chapter 2

The Quarterly Race Application process was long and tedious, consisting of three parts regarding the car’s design and performance, the driver’s skill and situational knowledge and reactions, and the team’s overall performance and abilities. Sitting in the Mifune family room, Speed read through the different scenarios on the driver’s portion of the application and typed out his responses or selected the multiple choice answer. Beside him, Lucy’s fingers flew over her keyboard as she covered the team’s general applications, pausing only to double check some date or score with her records before continuing. Conor had taken over the loveseat while working through the list of questions on the Mach 6. The redhead’s typing steadily grew more antagonized as he worked.

“Well fuck you too, you piece of shit--” Conor growled, smashing a few keys before scanning over a paper print out from the tests he had run earlier that day before slowly pecking out the long string of numbers.

Speed snorted. “Doing alright over there?”

“Damn thing should just copy and paste like every other online form.”

“It’s to prevent cheating,” Lucy said without looking up from her screen, “but it would save me time looking over everything for typos.”

Footsteps down the hall signaled the approach of Speed’s uncle, Kurio. The middle-aged academy principal walked through the house, reading over a paper as he ran his hand over his receding hairline. “How are the applications, you three?”

“There’s no way Gou had to deal with forms like this,” Conor said.

Kurio stopped and looked up from his work. “Of course he did. Given your experimental cars, these are to be expected. We can’t let untested vehicles on the track.”

“But the Mach 5 wasn’t a standard race car either,” Conor pointed out.

Kurio conceded the mechanic’s point. “They were different times.”

“Yeah,” Speed’s older brother, X, stuck his head in from the kitchen where he’d been listening in. X had already graduated from the academy and begun racing on the pro circuits in the area. One benefit of being on a professional team was having managers fill out the majority of the forms for them. He grinned as he glanced around the room. “Fifty years ago, special grip tires counted as witchcraft.”

Kurio frowned. “Thirty-four years, Daisuke. Your father wasn’t racing against the Flintstones.”

No one used X’s first name. He flipped off his uncle who responded with a dark look. Snorting, he ducked back into the kitchen. 

“Look, the Mach 5 had some awesome innovations, but twenty years is like a century in tech years. The least the quarterly forms could do is just get all this information from the Racing Committee,” Conor said. He checked another number on the print out before backspacing a few times and correcting a number. “And half this stuff is standard now. It’s not like it’s telling them anything about the car.”

Lucy finally set her laptop down and stretched. “Maybe it’s some new policy. Or maybe it’s how they weed out teams who don’t want to take the time to do the work.”

Conor looked at her over the top of his screen. “Yeah and maybe they snuck some new policy in that you didn’t notice.”

“It’s possible.”

They all knew she received updates on all the Racing Commission’s policies on a weekly basis.

Speed smiled to himself and shook his head. He turned his laptop towards Lucy. “Do you mind looking over this before I submit it?” He knew she would.

Lucy took his laptop, her dark brow creasing as she scanned over his answers. Mahogany skin and deep, sepia eyes, she had short hair that curled around her ears. There was a small indent on her nose that Speed suspected was meant for a nose ring but he’d never seen her wear one. She finally passed the computer back to him. “You should re-word number seventeen. Right now it sounds like you aren’t sure what you’re talking about. And thirty through thirty-five are wrong because you did the calculations with the Macek formula instead of the Mazal formula.”

“Thanks Lucy,” Speed took it back and scrolled back through his answers, pulling a new scrap of paper out of his notebook to redo the calculations.

X walked into the living room, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. “Anyone want to taste test these for me?”

“Yes!” Conor jumped up, dumping his computer on the loveseat before rushing through the open doorway and into the kitchen.

Speed set his own work aside and waited for Lucy before walking into the kitchen.

The room smelled of cooked bacon and sauteed onions and garlic with an earthy herb undertone. Three dishes sat on the island counter like a buffet. X had already divided a piece of chicken onto three plates along with the sides of vegetables and fresh bread with forks set out for them. Conor was already eating, greedily taking as much as he could with each bite. 

“Damn, X. This is good.”

X smirked, pleased with the praise.

Speed passed a plate to Lucy. “Fair warning, I can make pasta and pre-cooked chicken nuggets and that’s about it.”

“And I can burn toast. Either Conor’s doing all the cooking or we’re living off of freezer meals once we start traveling to race,” Lucy joked.

“It’s not that hard to cook,” X moved to his brother’s side. “I can teach you.”

“I don’t think Uncle Kurio wants me to burn down his kitchen.”

Kurio entered, finally having changed out of his work shirt and pants and into jeans and a T-shirt with a faded logo for some tourist location. “Please don’t.” He squeezed past them to reach the coffee pot and rinsed it in the sink before starting a fresh pot.

“You should try my mom’s cooking,” Lucy leaned back against the counter, savoring the taste of the mushroom and cream sauce. “She worked in a nice kitchen for a while before she got her non-profit job.” She gave Speed a pointed look. “She’d love to have you over for dinner sometime. And my dad wants to meet you too.”

Speed shoveled the last few bites into his mouth to buy time.

She didn’t push. She didn’t respond. Lucy just watched and waited, expecting an answer.

Chewing slowly, Speed wished X would intervene. When he didn’t, Speed finally swallowed.

“We could go over the weekend after the race.”

“Y-yeah. We could.” Speed shifted, turning to rinse his plate in the sink. He watched the last bits of the cream sauce disappear down the drain.

X hooked his arm around Speed’s neck. “So you’re finally going to meet her parents? It’s about time.”

“Shut up, X,” Speed muttered.

“Lucy, your dad’s military, right?”

She nodded, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her mouthful of food as she spoke. “Marine Corps Special Communications Analyst.”

“Well, there’s the problem. Speed’s probably scared your dad’ll snap him in half.”

“He’ll try to act intimidating,” she looked at Speed, “but I promise he’s not that bad.”

“Don’t tell him that. Speed needs the whole dating experience.”

Speed elbowed his brother in the ribs.

X hissed and stepped away, still smiling. “Just charm them and you’ll be fine.”

Conor snorted. “Well, then Speed’s screwed.”

Speed grabbed the faucet hose and sprayed the water at Conor, smiling as his roommate jumped away.

Conor laughed, waiting for Speed to move away from the sink before cleaning his own plate and fork. He checked his watch. “Shit.” He ducked around everyone in the crowded kitchen. “Gotta run. We’re working at a big wedding reception tonight. Don’t worry about looking over my section of the application, Lucy. I’ll finish it up either tonight or tomorrow morning.”

“Are you going back to the academy tonight?” Speed asked, ignoring the glance from Kurio.

“Nah, the reception’s going late. I’ll crash at a friend’s place.” The roommates exchanged a look. 

Speed nodded. Conor had mentioned wanting to spend the night with his boyfriend.

“But I’ll be back by tomorrow afternoon. We can submit everything then,” Conor called from the living room as he hurried to shove his computer and files into his backpack. “See you guys.” In minutes he was out the door and his electric car silently drove off down the street.

Lucy rinsed her own plate and placed it on the small drying rack by the sink. “I should be going too. They want to start teaching me the bookkeeping stuff tonight.”

Speed shifted, glancing at the platters of food X was covering and placing back in the warm oven. He had hoped Lucy could’ve at least stayed a little longer. “I’ll walk you out.” He followed her into the family room where she gathered her things before heading out the door. Speed smiled a little to himself. All of her movements were deliberate and precise. He strode ahead of her and got the door. “Are we still on for our movie night tomorrow night?”

“Of course. I’ll bring the drinks.”

The outside of the house stubbornly struggled to appear green and welcoming against the desert landscape. Kurio’s flower garden was small with a few rose bushes close to the house while desert grasses and succulents made up the rest of the scrawny garden beds. The sun was starting to dip towards the horizon, resting just above the distant canyons and casting everything in a bright orange glow.

“Hey,” Lucy paused at her car door, her voice low and gentle, “are you sure you’re okay with having dinner with my family? I don’t want to make things--”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s fine. It’s about time I met them and . . . I know it’s important to you.”

She smiled and gave him a quick hug before sliding into her car. 

“See you tomorrow.” Speed stepped back and waved as she backed out of the driveway. He sighed when she disappeared down the street. 

Back in the house, X had stacked all of Speed’s school work and set it on the coffee table. “Hey, help me set the table when you’re done putting that away.”

Speed grudgingly grabbed his things and took them to his room, dumping them on his bed before returning to the kitchen to get the dishes. X was busy checking the dinner. “Is it really that big of a deal?” Speed asked.

“Well yeah, unless you want the chicken to be dry.”

“I meant all the cleaning and fanfare.” Speed took the dishes into the adjacent dining room, setting each place as X raised his voice to be heard from the kitchen. 

“I’d like them to think I’m not a complete slob.”

An engine rumbled outside.

“They’re here!” X took the food from the oven before hurrying to the front door.

Speed grudgingly followed, waiting by the couch and shoving his hands in his pockets as X opened the door to a loud chorus of hellos. Thomas and Janet Meyers were the loud kind of foster parents who exuded a boisterous and chaotic energy that Speed preferred to stay on the race track. The only time he’d met them was back at the academy right before a race. X had caught him in passing and introduced them before letting Speed get back to his final preparations. 

The Meyers moved from X to Kurio, commenting on it being too long, and finally to Speed. “Speed!” Thomas said, “I know we’ve met but I feel like this is the first time we actually get to meet you.”

 _Which was by design._ Speed gave a polite nod and held out his hand, expecting a handshake. Thomas took it and pulled him into a strong hug quickly followed by a similar one from Janet. Speed jumped from panic to anger to nervous and uncomfortable acceptance in seconds as he awkwardly waited to be released. The hugs were only a few seconds long but they were still a few seconds too much. He wished Lucy or Conor could’ve stayed.

A loud noise by the door finally broke the embraces as everyone turned to see a guy in an out of state university sweater catch X in a playful headlock. He grinned as he looked around the room. “Hi, Mr. Mifune.”

“It’s good to see you again, Paul,” Kurio said. “How’s Grand Mountain University?”

“Same old, same old. Looking forward to finishing this semester so I can come back and bother X some more.”

X laughed and pulled himself free, lightly punching him in the arm before moving to Speed’s side and throwing his arm around Speed’s neck and shoulders in a similar headlock. “Paul, this is my younger brother, Speed. Speed, this is Paul.” He glanced at Speed and quickly released the headlock. “He’s the one doing the environmental science and journalism majors because he couldn’t pick just one.” 

“You’re just jealous.” Paul shook Speed’s hand. “X talks about you all the time.” He swatted X’s shoulder. “He’s hated being the younger brother for years.”

Speed forced a small smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Kurio beckoned everyone further into the house, asking Thomas and Janet what they’d like to drink. X cut ahead of everyone and led the way towards the kitchen. “Dinner’s finished so we can eat whenever you’re ready.”

Keeping his distance. Speed tried not to wince as the Meyers’ voices filled the house with loud laughter and conversation, piling on top of each other to create a mass of noise as they talked about school and work and past get togethers that they needed to do again. He let everyone else fill their plates and take their seats around the dinner table before doing the same. Kurio brought out wine glasses for Thomas, Janet, Paul, and himself and began pouring the drinks before taking his own seat at one 

Speed found himself between X and Thomas. As soon as he sat down, Thomas turned to him.

“You’re in your senior year now, right? How’s that going?”

“It’s alright.”

Kurio leaned between them to fill Thomas’ glass. “Speed’s team is getting ready for their quarterly race.”

“Yeah?” Thomas said, “I remember going to a few of X’s quarterlies. Scared me to death a couple of times with some of those track choices.”

“They’re not too bad,” Speed couldn’t help but smile. “I’m first on the school leaderboard so they throw the tougher tracks at me during practice anyway.”

Paul jostled X’s shoulder. “How many years did it take you to get on the leaderboard and then you lose your title to your little brother.”

“I graduated. I didn’t lose it. And Speed earned that spot.”

“Oh that reminds me,” Janet took a quick sip of her wine before turning to X. “Has Derek decided if you’re doing the east circuit this year or is he keeping you local again?”

Speed stopped mid-bite. _East circuit?_ He glanced at his brother.

X was grinning, trying to swallow his food faster so he could talk. “Derek wants us to do the east circuit now that they’ve added Snake Track back into the rotation.”

“Never thought I’d see that back in the roster,” Thomas said. “They’ve been repairing that for, what, eight years? Are they going to keep all the old records or are they wiping the slate clean?”

“I’m pretty sure they’re keeping everything. There’d be a lot of angry fans if they didn’t at least acknowledge Dad’s old record.”

“At least until you have the chance to crush it, right X?” Paul added.

“Of course. I have to start somewhere, right?”

“It’ll be tough,” Thomas said. “You’d have to be millisecond perfect to get a lower time than your dad. He barely made it as it was.”

“Then I’ll just have to be perfect. And in a few years, Speed’ll beat my time. Right?” X bumped his arm.

Speed forced a small smile and managed a nod as an answer.

“Gou would be proud if either of you managed to beat his records,” Kurio said.

“We’ll have to come out and see one of your races,” Thomas added.

“That would be great!”

Speed silently stood, taking his plate to the kitchen. He was careful to stand out of sight. Closing his eyes, he steadied himself against the counter. _It’s fine. It’s going to be fine. You knew this was coming so don’t freak out._ The old panic welled up in his chest despite what he told himself. It had taken him two years to convince himself he could have something normal; two years to let his guard down and try again. _Nothing’s changing. X is just traveling for work. It’s fine. You’re going to be doing the same thing by this time next year._

Kurio’s distinct shuffle announced his approach.

Opening his eyes, Speed reached for one of the serving spoons and stirred the sauteed vegetables, pretending like he’d retreated to the kitchen for seconds. 

“Are you alright?” Kurio’s voice was low so only Speed could hear it.

He swallowed and nodded, not trusting his voice to remain steady.

“He didn’t mention it to you?

Speed shook his head.

“It’s a surprise to me too.” Kurio took another piece of chicken from the platter before turning to face his nephew. He put his hand on his shoulder, his touch cautious and reassuring despite the slightest flinch in Speed’s shoulders. “Take your time and join us whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Uncle Kurio.”

With a reassuring nod, Kurio left the kitchen.

Sighing, Speed leaned against the counter again, drawing deep breaths through his nose and silently breathing out. He let the fear and pain run through him, let his memories of running and hiding and being thrown away play through his mind, and then he pulled everything back under his control. Back to the polite and quiet persona he’d become accustomed to. After rinsing his plate and adding it to the drying rack, he returned to the table, silently slipping back into his chair as Janet finished recounting some hilarious story about X as a child. X laughed, covering his face with his hand out of embarrassment as Kurio chuckled into a napkin.

X glanced at Speed through his fingers. He tilted his head a little, silently asking a question.

Speed gave a small nod.

“Speed,” Janet said, turning her attention to him, “X said your girlfriend was going to be here tonight.”

“Yeah,” Speed swallowed, “She got called into work last minute.”

“That always sucks. Food service?”

“Retail.” 

She gave a pained expression. “I remember those days. Taught me a lot but still the worst job ever.”

As she was speaking, Paul nudged X with his elbow. “You’re gonna have to step up your game if your little brother’s found a girl before you did.”

X reached over and bopped the back of his head. “Lay off. Speed and Lucy are great together.” He gave Paul a wicked smile. “Last I heard, you weren’t dating anyone either.”

Paul laughed and shrugged.

Thomas’s voice pulled Speed’s attention away from X and Paul’s conversation. “Have you started looking at any pro teams yet? I know every young racer’s dream is to go solo but it’s a little more practical to start on a team that has the money and the connections.”

Speed shifted. “We’ve gotten a couple of offers.”

When he didn’t elaborate, Thomas nodded and prompted further. “Any you’re seriously considering?”

X jumped into the conversation. “Derek’s been on a mission to get them.” He turned to Speed. “I’m supposed to talk the team up and invite you out to our practice facilities after the quarterly.”

“Both of you on the same team?” Paul shook his head. “You’d be the ones to beat.”

“Pretty untouchable, not to mention Lucy and Conor’s abilities.”

“We’re still talking about who we want to go with,” Speed added, trying to keep track of who he needed to respond to in the conversation as it bounced between everyone as they finished up their meal.

“Derek was one of the first academy graduates, right?” Thomas asked Kurio. 

“Top of his class and trained directly under Gou. And he’s been a big supporter of the school. His team pays for one full scholarship for underprivileged students every year and offers a five year contract for the top team after graduation.”

Everyone stood gathered their dirty dishes, filing into the kitchen to put them in the sink as they made their way back out to the family room. Janet and Thomas both complimented X’s cooking and he vaguely mentioned it not being anything special and offering to get them the recipe. Speed lingered at the back of the line again. “I can do the dishes so you can keep visiting with them,” he told X.

His brother shook his head, throwing his arm around Speed’s neck again and pulling him out into the family room. “Don’t worry about it. I can take care of them later.”

“X. . .”

X pulled him onto the couch before jumping back into the conversation with everyone else. “We’re still on for the annual camping trip, right?”

Cringing, Speed pushed X’s arm from around his neck but sat silently studying the vacuum lines in the cream carpet.

“That’s the plan. We’ve pulled out all the gear and found a new place up by Crystal Lake that we thought would be fun to try.” Thomas leaned forward. “You should come too, Speed. We have plenty of extra gear if you need it. And the hike out there is worth it.”

“I . . . I might be busy with school.”

“No worries, we can work around your schedule.”

“You don’t have to change all of your plans just for my sake.”

Thomas waved off his concerns. “We don’t have anything set in stone yet. Just let us know what weekends you’re free and we can take care of the rest.”

“It’d be a lot of fun,” X added encouragingly.

Speed’s panic returned. How many times had he attempted these kinds of family bonding moments in the past only for it to blow up in his face? He swallowed and shifted on the couch. “Sure. I’ll let you know.” 

Kurio changed the subject and mentioned the charity race the academy put on at the end of every school year and asked if he could tempt Thomas into participating.

“I’m a little too old to have my atoms scrambled and digitized but I might know a few more recent retirees who would be interested.”

“I’ll send you the details. Should warn them that our recent graduates will be participating and at least one of them is helping design a new track for it.”

Speed’s eyes glazed over as the visit continued. He let the conversation move away from him, only vaguely listening as the talk continued with the mundane topics of Paul’s school to the other foster siblings X had grown up with and what they were doing with their lives. It was a few hours before the Meyers had to leave. The chaotic volumes returned as everyone said their goodbyes and promised to see each other again soon. Janet gave X a hug. “Good luck on your next race, sweetie.” She kissed his cheek before stepping through the door.

“See you later, Mom.”

Turning away, Speed retreated to his room and closed the door. It had taken him a full two years to agree to spend the night and weekends at Kurio’s house. At first, the spare room held just the bed and whatever he’d packed in his bag for the stay, always kept clean and organized unlike his room at the academy. After six months, he felt comfortable not making his bed every morning. A few months later, Kurio suggested he choose a new paint color and start decorating. He sighed and stepped over the pile of dirty laundry he needed to do before going back to school. Once at his desk, he cleared a spot and pulled a worn and taped sketchbook from the backpack he’d dumped under the desk upon arrival. Flipping to an empty page, he dug in the backpack again for a pencil.

The rough sketch was simple. Silhouetted figures in a door frame. The figures were turned away from the viewer. Speed let his mind go blank as his pencil moved over the page. He never included exact features but he knew each and every person with their backs towards him. It took several minutes to get everything right. The shading on the figures was the hardest part.

A light knock interrupted him.

“It’s open.” Speed pulled a textbook over to cover the page of his sketchbook. 

X opened the door and stepped in, leaning against the door frame. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Look . . . I’m sorry I didn’t mention going to the east circuits. I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it but Thomas and Derek both said it would be a good experience even if I don’t place well my first time around. I should’ve given you a heads up.”

Speed gave a silent shrug.

“Are you going to be okay on your own with Kurio?”

“I’ll be fine. Conor told me the catering place he works at is hiring and I know of a diner that will hire me for the summer. It’ll keep me busy and out of the house.”

“I’ll come back a few times and give you a break from Kurio’s hovering.”

Speed shrugged again, twirling the pencil in his hand.

“And, hey, in a couple of years you’re going to be traveling and doing circuits too.”

“Yeah,” Speed said. 

X shifted. “So do you think you’ll come camping with us? It’d be a fun thing to do before I leave for the summer.”

Speed stared down at his textbook. Agreeing to go meant dealing with the Meyers for two full days and nights. But it was important to X and he wouldn’t have another opportunity to see his brother for a long time. “I’ll have to check my schedule. I took on a lot more this semester than usual.”

“I’ll consider that a soft yes.” X smiled. “Thanks, Speed.” He stepped out of the room and closed the door.

Sighing, Speed moved the textbook out of the way and studied his drawing. After a minute he grabbed an eraser and removed one of the vague figures. X was the best family he’d ever had. He wasn’t going to lose that just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kage: Eyyy we finally get to introduce the main cast here! I've been a big fan of the idea that X is a really good cook ever since it popped up. Though I legit cannot remember where the idea came from lol. On a more serious note, it's always bugged me that Speed was the one hidden away while it's implied X at least grew up with his uncle in the show.
> 
> Kimi: So I suck at writing notes. But I love seeing how the main cast's personalities have developed over the various rewrites. X and Speed's relationship was especially fun to rework from the original material and drafts.

**Author's Note:**

> Kimiwriter: I am so excited to share this story and these characters. Dawn has been one of my favorites to write since we started this story.  
> Kage: *Excited screaming* Feels like ages ago that we started this fic (And entire series) 
> 
> The plan's to post a chapter once a week until the first arc's up. After that we'll post the next arc once it's finished.


End file.
